Tech

TV ratings will now include Hulu Live and YouTube TV

Traditional television ratings are about to get a much-needed modern day update.

In an effort to bring the ratings up-to-date and improve accuracy, Nielsen Holdings — the king of ratings — will begin including views on Hulu Live TV and Google's YouTube TV in official TV ratings in the United States, the company announced in a press release.

The inclusion will work to account for those television viewers who may have cancelled their cable subscriptions and, "capture the shift from traditional broadcast to watching shows on laptops or smartphones," the company toldReuters.

According to the report, Nielsen will record digital viewing within "a three-day or seven-day window of when a show first aired on TV into its C3, C7 currency, which advertisers use to buy ad time."

"This is a big one for the industry," Nielsen's Executive Vice President of product leadership Megan Clarken told Reuters. "We're following viewers across platforms."

If the Hulu Live TV or YouTube TV programming includes the same commercials that ran when the program was first aired on television, it will become part of Nielsen's ratings regardless of the device used to view it or time of viewing.

Though the number of subscribers to each service is unknown, YouTube TV allows users to stream live television shows from popular networks like ABC, FOX, and ESPN, and Hulu Live TV gives users access to live and on-demand programming from more than 50 channels.

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